Outlook: Cool, dry autumn expected

Posted October 3, 2010, 3:22 PM.

The latest predictions from the Climate Prediction Center foretell a cool, dry October, with the pattern probably lasting until at least December.

For the shorter term, we're looking at below normal temperatures this week followed by average temperatures next week.

The cooler than normal predictions continue a cooler than normal trend that's been in place this entire year. In Temecula, September was the only normal temperature month of the year to date. In Murrieta, just January, August and September. For Lake Elsinore, only January, March and September exceeded normal. Hemet recorded above normal months January through March, and June and September. Riverside was above normal in January and March and normal only in September. Fallbrook was normal or above normal from January through March.

The prime weather trend has been this past winter's El Nino changing to a La Nina. Sea surface temperatures turned in the equatorial Pacific turned cooler than normal in June, intensified through August and September. The La Nina pattern is expected to be in place through at least December, and is the main factor in the CPC's prediction for below normal rainfall this fall throughout the American Southwest.